Learning Diversity

pssst... You got 5 minutes? Let's talk about how students learn...

Reviewing the school performance scores that were released a few days ago, led me to think about how students learn and how schools address the learning diversity within them.  Every student comes into the school with an individual context, whether family background, country of origin, language, interest or ability/disability, that impacts learning and their experience in schools, which could make them “different.”   Student engagement, academic achievement and attendance would increase (and suspensions would decrease) if schools started to pay attention to how each student learns and developed plans to address that diversity.

We know one of the hallmarks of good and effective teachers is that they can differentiate instruction for the students in their classes.  So why don’t the systems in schools work to improve instruction congruent with maximizing opportunities for the success of every learner?  Treating all students the same is always easier and generally less expensive to accommodate than taking into account all the differences that may exist.  But aren’t all our students worth it?  And don’t all our students deserve it?  Holding schools accountable for learning differences will take time and resources, but if we are going to create real equity in schools and close the “achievement gap,” WE MUST.

So what is it going to take?  Three things:

1.  Since one of the challenges is developing the skills and competency to create differentiated classrooms, a primary goal is to support teachers to create lessons that are not “one-size-fits all” by targeted professional development.  Teachers need to know various instructional strategies that would increase the likelihood that all the students learn and then learn how to implement them effectively.  For example, teachers can learn how to create pre-assessments to elicit information about student prior knowledge and interest in the topic, or how to effectively create stations in class.

2. Since financial resources are always used as an excuse for a lack of progress, a short-term solution may be to look for outside funding.  That funding can be used for technology to enhance the learning environment.  In “Applicable Teaching Tools,” an article in Education Weekly by Nirvi Shah, the author describes how tablet applications are being used to assist students with disabilities learn and build confidence.  This technology doesn’t have to rest only with students with disabilities, but should also be used to enhance the learning of all students.

3. Collectively we need to have will and desire to expect and ensure that all students are learning; and there’s the rub.  Policy changes aren’t enough and no amount of money will matter if those directly responsible for delivering the service (educators) and those directly impacted by the service (students and families) don’t work to make it all happen.  We need a focus that includes not just the students with labels, but every student that walks in to our school buildings looking to cash in on the promise of education.

Thinking about learning differences reminded me of one of my favorite Prince songs, Starfish and Coffee.  It begins:

It was 7:45, we were all in line 2 greet the teacher Miss Kathleen/First was Kevin, then came Lucy, third in line was me /All of us were ordinary compared 2 Cynthia Rose /She always stood at the back of the line, a smile beneath her nose/Her favorite number was 20 and every single day/If U asked her what she had 4 breakfast, this is what she'd say/Starfish and coffee, maple syrup and jam/ Butterscotch clouds and a tangerine, a side order of ham…

We’ve all taught “Cynthia Rose” and could identify her differences.  But really, aren’t we all (and our students) “Cynthia Rose” in some way?  

Discipline Data Matters

Hey...you got 5 minutes? Let me tell you something: discipline data does matter.

Public education in New Orleans is at an important crossroads now; with the current reform, educational leaders are thinking critically about how to provide high quality schools for all students.  Simultaneously, there is a debate about effective school governance and litigation regarding the return of Recovery School District Schools to the authority of the Orleans Parish School Board.  These conversations open the door to a dialogue about the importance of considering all the available data to inform us of the reality of individual school and Charter Management Organization performance.

The post-Katrina educational reform in New Orleans has been largely based on analyzing academic data to improve instruction, and student and school performance.  However, in order to provoke significant, sustainable reform that improves outcomes for all students and moves us toward a more equitable system of schools, the discourse must include the data that gives us insight into individual school climate.  School climate, including school and classroom-level discipline are important to ensure a positive learning environment and we must look at the “discipline gap” as it relates to the “achievement gap.” Consequently, discipline data must play an explicit role when determining the expansion of charter management organizations.  Neglecting to factor in discipline data constricts the narrative of school performance and provides the public with a narrowed view of the reform efforts.

Consider this snapshot (based on reporting by The Lens Charter School Reporting Corps):

·         ReNew Charter Schools, was asked by the Recovery School District to send a letter of intent to charter Schaumberg Elementary for the 2014-2015 School Year.  ReNew operates Batiste Cultural Arts Academy  and Sci Tech Academy, which both earned grades of F last year (and this year are Transformation schools).  Both schools have out-of school suspension rates above 20%.

 

·         New Orleans College Prep Schools, whose schools are failing, suspended over 60% of their student population and has applied to take over management of any other charter or direct-run school.

It is timely and important to question the metrics that are used to determine which Charter Management organizations are invited to apply to take over schools, as well as those that ultimately get charter applications approved. It is an undeniable honor to be an educator; education is the cornerstone of our democracy.  It defies logic that managers of schools with failing academic records, who are also failing in their duty of care, should remain unquestioned in their pursuit to educate our young people. 

Education reform in New Orleans set forth a big, bold, audacious vision of school choice and high student performance.  The recently released School Performance Scores not only flatten that fantasy, they make us question the core convictions of the reform itself - to transform failing schools into high-performing, quality learning environments.  According to the data, 69% of the direct-run and charter schools are failing and in the 2010-2011 academic year 46% of the schools had an out-of-school suspension rate above 15.0%.  Yet, year after year, failing schools and failing CMO’s are given the opportunity to take over other schools.  Low performing schools with high suspension rates do not serve our children or our city. 

If the Recovery School District continues its pattern of denial and frames its failures as success, we must push them to, at the very least, be transparent about all of the data.  There is a relationship between school discipline and student achievement; ineffective discipline policies, like the over-use of suspension, often push students out of school, increasing the likelihood that they will drop out and increasing the likelihood of becoming involved in the juvenile justice system. The RSD should consider all of the available data to determine school and CMO performance, including the data on the impact of discipline practices on student learning, especially when the policies and practices often push young people to criminalization, instead of civic engagement and leadership.

 

for more information on the "discipline gap": Opportunity Suspended

Allow me to reintroduce myself...

You got 5 minutes?  Allow me to reintroduce myself, my name is Schools First JJPL...

After the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, no one could have anticipated all of the challenges associated with rebuilding the city.  One of the major concerns was creating a more equitable educational landscape; one that meet the needs of all children.  The nation called it an experiment, an opportunity to right the wrongs of the past, to institute a “recovery” for the failing schools of New Orleans.  But in the months following the storm, the traditional public schools were in crisis; the district suffered from negligent leadership, a severe lack of teachers, a criminal decrease in social workers and counselors and an increase in the police presence in schools.  In the first full school year of the rebuilt school system, a disproportionate percentage of students were suspended for nonviolent classroom disturbances, the number of expulsions exploded and community leaders and judges alike complained of the significant numbers of school arrests for matters that could have been handled without involving law enforcement.

One of the strengths of our young people, families and communities is their belief and investment in education as the most promising tool to create life opportunities, some folks call it “the achievement ideology.”  For decades, New Orleans Public Schools’ discipline policies and practices (such as zero-tolerance) have pushed children out of school increasing students’ chances of involvement in the juvenile or criminal justice systems.  In addition, students have been and continue to be removed from educational environments through school-arrests for minor offenses and discouraged from attendance by intimidating police practices on campus.  Research shows that these policies and practices:1) do not improve student behavior; 2) exclude students from educational opportunities; and 3) increase the young person’s likelihood of involvement in the juvenile or criminal justice systems. 

In this context, the Schools First project, at the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana (JJPL), was born.  While JJPL has traditionally worked to reform the juvenile justice system from the back-end (conditions of confinement, alternatives to detention and incarceration), the organization decided to address the policies and practices of our educational systems that funnel children into the juvenile justice system.  The Schools First Project of JJPL was initiated in the summer of 2006 to reduce the number of students suspended, expelled, pushed-out and arrested in schools in New Orleans.  So if you didn’t know, we’ve been focusing on the school-to-prison pipeline for years now—this isn’t new to us, though you may not have known that.  Hello, my name is Schools First JJPL, nice to meet you (again).

Our successes are many, including:

·         Conducting educational advocacy trainings for other youth advocates, parent and student groups, local offices of national teacher training programs and Recovery School District (RSD) teachers and administrators;

·         Helping to revise the RSD’s Student Code of Conduct;

·         Developing Stand Up for Each Other, a partnership with Tulane and Loyola Law schools to provide direct representation for students in discipline hearings;

·         Advocating for and coordinated specialized training for RSD school security officers;

·         Serving as part of the legal team representing Jesse Ray Beard in the Jena 6 case;

·         Being mentioned as a resource for stopping the school-to-prison pipeline on the website of national organizations ; and

·         Coordinating the development of a MOU with the RSD and the Orleans Parish Juvenile Court

As the nation watches the course of education reform in New Orleans, JJPL will continue our advocacy to reform the practices and policies that push out or otherwise exclude students from a quality education.  The pleasure is all ours.